Hearing and Service Dogs of Minnesota is dedicated to helping Minnesotans who are deaf , hard-of-hearing, or disabled to become more independent and self-confident by pairing them with specially trained assistance dogs. The program carefully selects homeless dogs, often from local animal shelters, and trains them during a training period that last four months for Hearing Dogs and six months or more for Service Dogs. The dog, professional training and interpreting services, obedience instruction, medical care, food and supplies are given to qualified applicants at no charge.